1916 Easter Rising Irish Medal Collection Framed

A beautifully framed set of the replica 1916 medal & the1966 Survivors Medal. This set comes framed with moulded medal replicas and detailed descriptions. This unique collection is a must for the History enthusiast.

Dimensions: 14" in length, 10 1/4" in width.

The 1916 Medal

The 1916 medal was issued to all those who took part in the 1916 Easter rising. These medals were not issued until January 24th 1942 (26 years after the rising). The medal features a reproduction of the statue of Cuchulainn erected in the G.P.O Dublin by the famous sculpter "Oliver sheppard" and has become a symbol of the fight for irish freedom.

The 1916 Survivors Medal

The 1916 survivors medal was issued to all those surviving veterans of "the 1916 Easter rising" and holders of the 1916 medal during the 50th anniversary celebrations in 1966. The medal design is identical to the front of the 1916 medal and the only notable difference to the medal is the ribbon and the colour of the medal. Due to the time span involved t w far fewer of these medals issued and the originals are quite rare.

Easter Rising 1916

The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca ) was a militarily unsuccessful rebellion staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday in April 1916. Nevertheless, despite its military failure, it can be judged as being a significant stepping-stone in the eventual creation of the Irish Republic.

The rebellion marked the most famous attempt by militant republicans to demonstratively force independence from the United Kingdom. The Irish Republican revolutionary attempt occurred from April 24 to April 30, 1916, in which a part of the Irish Volunteers led by school teacher and barrister Padraig Pearse and the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. The event is seen as a key turning point on the road to Irish independence, as it marked a split between physical-force republicanism and mainstream non-violent nationalism represented by the Irish Parliamentary Party under John Redmond who through democratic parliamentary procedure had won an initial stage of national domestic self-government within the United Kingdom, under the British crown, granted through the Third Home Rule Act 1914. This Act, limited by the fact that it partitioned Ireland into Northern Ireland and "Southern Ireland", was placed on the statute books in September 1914, but suspended for the duration of World War I. It ultimately became enacted under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920.

Planning the Rising

While the Easter Rising was for the most part carried out by the Irish Volunteers, it was planned by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Shortly after the outbreak of World War I on August 4, 1914, the Supreme Council of the IRB met and, under the old dictum that "England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity", decided to take action sometime before the conclusion of the war. To this end, the IRB's treasurer, Tom Clarke formed a Military Committee to plan the rising, initially consisting of Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett, with himself and Sean MacDermott added shortly tafter. All of these were members of both the IRB, and (with the exception of Clarke) the Irish Volunteers. Since its inception in 1913, they had surreptitiously hijacked the Volunteers, and had fellow IRB members elevated to officer rank whenever possible, hence by 1916 a large portion of Volunteer leadership were devoted republicans in favor of physical force. A notable exception was the founder and Chief-of-Staff Eoin MacNeill, who was determined to use the Volunteers as a bargaining tool with Britain following World War I, and who was certainly opposed to any rebellion that stood little chance of success. Nevertheless, the IRB hoped to either win him over to their side (through deceit if necessary) or bypass his command altogether. They had little success with either plan.